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For a family gathering later today, I made the Roasted White Chocolate Brownies with Strawberry-Balsamic Swirl from Irvin Lin's MARBLED, SWIRLED, AND LAYERED. Recipe available online here.

Despite baking them for 10 min longer than the given time and testing with a toothpick, they are badly underbaked and quite gooey in the middle, though crumbly around the edges. Too bad.

I guess I will pick up something from Trader Joes on my way over

Edited to add that some googling told me that people have put underbaked brownies back into the oven, even after cooling and they came out OK so I will try it. I might put some foil around the outside so the edges don't dry out too much.

Here's the white chocolate before roasting:

And after:

Batter before baking:

After baking:

I've had good luck heating cooled brownies. I love super chewy brownies, so I tend to overcook anyway!

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They've historically been a hugely important foodstuff, though as Rob says they take a deal of preparation. Oak trees generate a greater weight of edible nuts than just about any other tree, though, so in a subsistence economy they're worth the trouble. They were the staple food of the native peoples in one part of California, and even in Europe they've been a "famine food" off and on for most of history.

That's really interesting. I had no idea they were used for anything other than feeding pigs.

It seems like they were used in much the same way as chestnuts in the Jura and east of France - where you can't grow wheat, you get your starch from the trees. It's a shame that they don't offer much in terms of an interesting or unique flavour though.

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That's a parallel I thought of drawing, actually. In California they were mostly pounded to meal, and then used to make a bland but filling sort of porridge. I have a reference around here somewhere, but it's an actual book as opposed to an online (linkable) resource.

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I've had good luck heating cooled brownies. I love super chewy brownies, so I tend to overcook anyway!

Thanks for that advice! I put them back into the oven for another 35 minutes. I thought they were still on the gooey side but I brought them to the party anyway and they were a big hit. The family could have been humoring me with the compliments, but the negotiations to divide the leftovers were real!

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I may sound like a complete idiot for asking, but what exactly is the procedure for this?

Bake in the muffin tin until just done enough to be released later. Let chill for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin using a fork. Place the muffins on a wire rack and bake again, using convection mode or at a higher heat, until well browned and crisp.

The idea is that while cooling, steam from inside the muffin is released and softens the crust (making it chewy instead of crisp). Baking for a longer time will dry the inside, and won't be very effective because of the tin preventing evaporation. Instead, baking again with convention after cooling will only really heat the surface, so there won't be much steam coming out and the inside won't over bake.

A similar procedure works for breads whose crust tend to lose crispness while cooling.

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Bake in the muffin tin until just done enough to be released later. Let chill for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin using a fork. Place the muffins on a wire rack and bake again, using convection mode or at a higher heat, until well browned and crisp.

The idea is that while cooling, steam from inside the muffin is released and softens the crust (making it chewy instead of crisp). Baking for a longer time will dry the inside, and won't be very effective because of the tin preventing evaporation. Instead, baking again with convention after cooling will only really heat the surface, so there won't be much steam coming out and the inside won't over bake.

A similar procedure works for breads whose crust tend to lose crispness while cooling.

Thank you. On my list of "things to bake" are blueberry cornmeal muffins. The recipe calls for baking them for 20 minutes. So, I would pull them out of the oven at say, the 15 minute mark, let them sit in the tin for 10, remove from the tin, let cool completely on a wire rack, then pop them back in the oven for another 5 minutes? On a cookie sheet?

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Thank you. On my list of "things to bake" are blueberry cornmeal muffins. The recipe calls for baking them for 20 minutes. So, I would pull them out of the oven at say, the 15 minute mark, let them sit in the tin for 10, remove from the tin, let cool completely on a wire rack, then pop them back in the oven for another 5 minutes? On a cookie sheet?

The second part will likely take a little more than 5 minutes, because they will need to regain the lost heat, and also because you should aim for a darker crust than usual (muffins are usually baked a little pale so they don't dry). Also notice that the second bake should be with the convection fan on or at a higher temp.

I usually leave them on the wire rack for baking.

Mine were baked at 190 C for 20 minutes, chilled, freed from the pan, chilled a little more, then baked another 7 minutes with convection.

Also, they can be frozen when par baked, then baked without defrosting at a moderate heat.

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Bake in the muffin tin until just done enough to be released later. Let chill for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin using a fork. Place the muffins on a wire rack and bake again, using convection mode or at a higher heat, until well browned and crisp.

The idea is that while cooling, steam from inside the muffin is released and softens the crust (making it chewy instead of crisp). Baking for a longer time will dry the inside, and won't be very effective because of the tin preventing evaporation. Instead, baking again with convention after cooling will only really heat the surface, so there won't be much steam coming out and the inside won't over bake.

A similar procedure works for breads whose crust tend to lose crispness while cooling.

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Bake in the muffin tin until just done enough to be released later. Let chill for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin using a fork. Place the muffins on a wire rack and bake again, using convection mode or at a higher heat, until well browned and crisp.

The idea is that while cooling, steam from inside the muffin is released and softens the crust (making it chewy instead of crisp). Baking for a longer time will dry the inside, and won't be very effective because of the tin preventing evaporation. Instead, baking again with convention after cooling will only really heat the surface, so there won't be much steam coming out and the inside won't over bake.

A similar procedure works for breads whose crust tend to lose crispness while cooling.

I have a "muffin top" baking pan and for an oatmeal/bran/maple muffin, I bake them to within 8 minutes of the end of baking time, pull the pan out, flip them over and back into the oven for the remaining 7 minutes or so, PLUS I leave them in the oven for another 10 minutes after it shuts off. Both the tops and the bottoms are crisp.

I have tried any number of similar recipes, not just for cherries and almonds and they all ARE MUCH TOO SWEET!

I don't know when someone decided that a lot of sugar was the way to make baked goods toothsome (I love that word) - because some of the very old recipes I have, from the 19th century and earlier, used much less sugar, which was very expensive and often scarce.

This recipe is somewhat similar to others that use a whole cup of sugar for A SINGLE LOAF and in my opinion that is way too much. 1/4 cup is plenty, especially with sweet fruit.

I have included a shot of the cherries I used. These are better than any I have ever used. Amarena cherries, a product of Italy.

Cherry-Almond Quick Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes Original Recipe by Andie Paysinger

Bake Time:1 hour

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 cup sugarif you like it sweeter you can use 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar without changing anything else.

1 Teaspoon baking powder

1 Teaspoon baking SODA

1/2 cup chopped dried and plumped cherriesthe Amarena cherries I show in my post do not need plumping.

Add the oil, and blend into the eggs.Add the almond extract and the buttermilk and blend well.

Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir till blended.

Add the remaining flour mixture and stir till completely mixed.

The mixture will begin to have a “spongy” texture, the effect of the buttermilk and baking soda - this is normal.

Spoon the batter into the lined loaf pan filling each end first and then the center.Even the top and wet the spoon and with the back, push the batter toward the ends of the pan so the middle is slightly hollow looking.This will produce an even top without a dome in the middle.

Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for ONE HOUR.

Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack.

Wait 5 minutes and using the paper “wings” on each side, lift the loaf out of the pan and place on the rack.

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I have a "muffin top" baking pan and for an oatmeal/bran/maple muffin, I bake them to within 8 minutes of the end of baking time, pull the pan out, flip them over and back into the oven for the remaining 7 minutes or so, PLUS I leave them in the oven for another 10 minutes after it shuts off. Both the tops and the bottoms are crisp.

Sounds good, I imagine it like a crisp muffin-cookie hybrid, sounds right?